Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the office of the Ceann Comhairle for choosing this Topical Issue and welcome the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, to the Chamber.

Many politicians and people talk about sustainable communities, be they sustainable farming, fishing, rural or coastal communities. In recent years there have been unsustainable activities on the part of supertrawlers, the activities of which, in many people's eyes, have been unsustainable in an Irish, a European Union and a global context. Today, four large supertrawlers are operating off the coast of County Donegal. TheMargirisand theAnnelies Ilenaare the largest and second largest, respectively, and have been fishing on and off for the past few years, while the other two are the Jan Mariaand theMaartje Theadora. It has been stated two fifths of European stocks, where data are available, were considered to be overfished, while a further 45% of stocks were estimated to be in a similar state. This places huge pressure on small fishermen off the west coast. I note the careful rebuilding of stocks in the Celtic Sea under the stewardship of the Celtic Sea herring management advisory committee, where, according to a 2012 report, stocks have recovered well and the fishery operation was regarded as being at a sustainable level. Credit is due to the Minister and everyone involved as all stakeholders came on board to ensure the recovery of that fishery.

Recent surveys, however, highlight a concern about the current position. These factory ships were run out of the waters off the west coast of Africa and the coast of Mauritius. TheAnnelies Ilena, previously the Atlantic Dawn, was known in many parts of Africa as the "sea monster" or "the ship from hell". Obviously, it also had Irish connections, although it now is Dutch-registered. These ships have also been run out of the waters of Australia and New Zealand amid protests and intervention by politicians. Some assert that they are fishing with no quotas, while others state they have a small quota but that there are no controls over them. I have been asked why a boat that has a quota to fish off Ireland for two to four weeks for a certain species, that is, for one month, would spend nine months fishing in Irish waters. Is it not reasonable to expect, in the first instance, that these large trawlers should announce to the Irish authorities that they are coming into Irish waters to fish? Second, they should have camera surveillance systems on board to monitor activities. Third, they should allow officers of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority to board to verify activities and, fourth, they should leave Irish waters once their quotas have been caught. Ireland has full control - some would say excess control - over its own fleet in terms of quotas per Irish boat, whereas other boats such as boats from Spain have a national quota rather than a quota per boat, which makes it more difficult to verify or monitor whether overfishing is taking place. Ultimately, how is it fair and equitable that Irish boats have to comply, while others may not be doing so?

This is about jobs and the economy, including processing jobs in factories such as the one in Rossaveal, and in our rural communities. The EU is supposed to be about fairness and equality. There are national quotas rather than quotas per boat. How can this be fair if there is no proper monitoring of landings in other areas by these Dutch or German registered boats? Is the EU turning a blind to issues? Are there illegal activities going on? Do these boats target Irish waters and then get out before the Naval Service can catch them? Is the Minister confident that what is going on is above board, that the quota system and compliance by these boats with it is above board, and that we have nothing to worry about?

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